The Life and Personal Practice of an LDS Yogi

Daily Sadhana

It’s Thanksgiving today here in the US. By all rights, this post should be all about the many things for which I am thankful but it isn’t. Instead I want to offer a challenge to you today. I want you to start practicing Yoga at home, today . . . on Thanksgiving. For many, many people, this will be a busy day of cooking and eating and family and friends and most of it in excess. Tomorrow will be a day of shopping and again, likely in excess. Take just a few minutes of your day for you.

Here is my challenge to you: Practice Yoga at home every day for the next year. We’ll begin small, meditation for a few minutes and one posture, just one. If you want to do more, fantastic, but for now just commit to a few minutes of meditation and one posture. You can do this and you will thank yourself for doing it.

What you need:

A timer. Kitchen timers are fine but the click, click, click of a mechanical timer may become distracting. I like to use the timer on my phone or Google has a timer you can use online.

Your body.

Now that you have all your equipment, here are some vital details for preparing for this challenge.

Set a time for your daily practice. The same time every day. Be religious about this time.

Tell everyone in your home what you are doing during your practice time and that you will not respond unless there is blood, flood or fire. Be that dedicated about it!

Practice in the same place every day.

Now, there is one more vital piece you need before beginning your daily sadhana journey: Support. Practicing in a class is easy, everyone is doing it. Practicing alone is difficult, you are the only one there. Having a support group helps keep your practice steady. I have three forms of support for your daily sadhana: 1) Read Everyday Yoga, I’ll be posting my own experiences here each day. 2) Send me a picture of yourself with your name, what state/country you live in and the day you started the challenge. I will add you to the Daily Sadhana challenge page. 3) Join the Daily Sadhana Facebook group. Since we all can’t post here on Everyday Yoga, the Facebook group is the place to share your experiences.

Finally, here is the challenge for the next 30 days: 30 days of meditating and plank pose.

HOW TO MEDITATE

Set your timer for the correct number of minutes.

Sit comfortably—on the floor, in a chair, comfortably—with the spine erect.

Close your eyes.

Listen to your breath.

Every time you notice you’ve stopped listening to your breath, listen to your breath

Transition to plank.

HOW TO DO THE BASIC PLANK

Set your timer.

Get in the pushup position, only put your forearms on the ground instead of your hands. Your elbows should line up directly underneath your shoulders. Toes on the ground.

Squeeze your glutes and tighten your abdominals.

Keep a neutral neck and spine.

Create a straight, strong line from head to toes – a plank, if you will (that means don’t have your butt up in the air, you should have as straight of a line as possible from the back of your neck to the back of your heels).

Hold that position.

If you click the image above, you’ll see that on day 30 we are practicing for only 15 minutes total. Is it possible that such a simple practice can have any effect? Start today and find out!